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Greif Expands Plastic Containers and Closure Business

Hollow plastic products 2025-03-20 14:19:18

Known for its large plastic, steel, and cardboard industrial containers, Greif is stepping up its investment in plastic products. (Image source: Greif)

This industrial packaging company has set ambitious plans to significantly boost sales and profits, and believes that the plastic container business will play a key role in the growth.

Headquartered in Delaware, Ohio, Greif is a global company with operations in 35 countries, employing over 14,000 people and generating annual sales of $5.45 billion.

Plastic containers are not a new business for the company, as it also holds a strong position in the fields of metal and paper packaging.

But management believes that the plastic container business is an opportunity to drive significant growth in the future.

Greif recently reorganized its business units into more specific operational units, expanding from two main areas to four. This move allows the company to focus more on specific businesses, including the newly established "Custom Polymer Solutions" unit.

"Our overall goal is to fully promote growth, essentially to double the size of the company." said CEO Ole Rømer at the recent company stock analyst and investor day.

Greif believes that its extensive product portfolio (for example, in addition to the plastic container business, the company is also a significant player in steel drums and paper packaging) is a natural safeguard against fluctuations in individual markets.

In Roosegaarde's words, Greif began to reshape its product portfolio about three years ago, shifting the product structure towards higher-margin and more stable areas. "The plastic container business happens to be just that," the CEO said, "This is the strategy we have implemented and will continue to execute. We will continue on this path, entering less cyclical and high-growth end markets, to capture premium profits."

Grief Chief Business Officer Padraic Mullany, when speaking at an investor conference, pointed out: Custom polymer solutions include large and medium-sized packaging forms and what the company calls "small plastic containers." The business of this department also covers the manufacturing and recycling of intermediate bulk containers (IBCs).

Mulaney stated that Greif spent eight years building the IBC business and has focused on expanding the small plastic container business over the past three to four years. IBCs are typically composed of a steel outer protective frame and a plastic inner liner, used for transporting hundreds of gallons or pounds of industrial products.

Greif regards small containers and sealed caps as growth directions. (Image source: Greif)

small packaging development path

In recent years, the development of small plastic containers has been promoted through the acquisition of Lee Container, Reliance Products Ltd., and iPackChem.

"We also make organic investments in our business. This is not just about acquiring growth. We invest in our own network, and we also invest in technology," Mulani said.

Why is this important? Because our work in the field of small plastic containers will make us the leader in barrier technology. This is very critical in the plastic container industry when presenting solutions to the customer base.

Greif produces a variety of plastic containers through its custom polymer solutions division, and the company also owns an industrial bottle cap and closure business that belongs to its comprehensive solutions division. The products include pure plastics or plastic-metal composites.

"We are the leaders in the global industrial sealing caps (non-consumer grade sealing caps) sector. This business is highly innovative." Mulani emphasized.

In the market, containers and sealing caps are usually sold separately, with companies focusing on only one of them.

But Greif discovered the potential of driving the closure business through the sale of containers (regardless of whether they are plastic or metal).

"Within the scope of what we can do, it is very important to allow customers to integrate our cap business with their polymer or steel business, as this provides a compelling reason for why customers should and need to do business with us." Mulani explained.

Greif is a major player in the steel drum, fiber drum, and plastic drum markets.

He said: "We are investing in this business to achieve growth."

Greif plans to expand the closure business beyond the industrial sector, but will not enter the commodity closure market.

"This requires mergers and acquisitions as well as organic investment. We don't need new factories, but the existing facilities need to be upgraded and renovated." Mulani said. "The market for closure caps has attractive profit margins, and although it is smaller in scale compared to other businesses, it has great potential."

Despite expressing optimism about plastic containers at the investor conference, Greif only separately disclosed its first quarter fiscal 2025 financial report on February 26: for the quarter ending January 31, it achieved sales of $1.27 billion and a net profit of $8.6 million (diluted earnings per Class A share of $0.15), a significant decline from the previous year's profit of $67.2 million (earnings per share of $1.17) and sales of $1.21 billion.

Custom polymer solutions segment net sales increased from $228 million in the prior year to $295.1 million, primarily due to acquisition contributions.

The company announced plans to sell 176,000 acres (1.0684 million mu) of timberland in the southeast to reduce debt, following the decision to close two underperforming paper barrel factories.

"Grief is actively addressing the historical phase of industrial activity contraction, while achieving the best synergy for long-term profitable growth through internal process and portfolio transformation." Rosgard stated in the financial report.

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Greif Expands Plastic Containers and Closure Business

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